Women's Bible Study - Overcoming Guilt

Women's Bible Study - Overcoming Guilt

November 7/13

Today's world has so many over-expectations for women. We are needed to run the home, teach our families how to work together, perhaps we are the one in charge of the family finances, we need to help a sick friend, attend church, be a strong Christian and excel at our jobs (weather that is inside or outside of the home) and the list continues.

This can eat away at us and cause a troubled heart. What we need to do - and its hard for most of us - is to get over the "I'm not as good as _________" blues!

Gen 20:9

Or its the "Why Me?"

Jeremiah 51:5

Most of our guilt comes from comparing ourselves to someone else. It's time to get your eyes off the person you feel is 'in front of you' and start leading your own parade.

We know when we are sinning.

John 9:41

Definition: the fact of having committed a specified or implied offence or crime.

If we let it, guilt can cripple us, you end up not seeing the path God wants you to walk- Satan starts the questions "Why would God want me?  I'm not good enough to do ______, or be ________.  Satan is distracting us away from God's path.

Hebrews 12:1-3

In our Fear lesson we learned to stop asking "What If" and started saying "What Now?".  By doing this simple mind switch we can start becoming an open receptacle and to replace that guilt by letting God's love flow into us.

Romans 10:19

So many answers can be found in the Bible and it can be hard to know where to look. Try going to an online site such as BibleStudyTools.com. When you type in what you are searching for answers to, it can help you find reference verses to strengthen you.

A great way to get over guilt, take a 15 minute to a half hour break in your day to feed and nourish your soul. Listen to an uplifting podcast while your getting ready in the morning or driving to work. Start by reading Bible stories to your child, or grand children. There are also short daily devotional books or apps you can download on your phone or devices- read them on your bathroom break.

If you let guilt continue to have a foothold (and that includes using guilt to get your kids to do things) you will constantly feel something is missing or wrong.

John 16:8

10 Steps to overcome Guilt

1. Realize that guilt is normal and we all have it.
2. Think through why your actions made you feel guilty.
3. Learn from those actions and promise to try not to repeat them. Realize we are all human, and this may not be possible, but make a personal promise to do better.
4. Apologize to someone, if your actions hurt someone. This will help alleviate some of the guilt, and hopefully the hurt party will accept your apology.
5. Take a lesson from the fictional character Scarlett O'Hara: "After all...tomorrow is another day." Realize each day is a new beginning filled with promise, hope and the opportunity to start over.
6. Do not dwell on the actions that may have caused the guilt.
7. Each time a guilty feeling arises, instead of wallowing in it, take one affirmative step. For example, if you feel guilty about having to file bankruptcy you can pay your electric bill the moment it arrives.
8. Do a good deed. Helping others often helps the person who offers help.
9. Seek medical assistance, if required. Excessive guilt could be part of a psychological or medical condition.
10. See a trusted clergyman, priest or other religious figure. They can guide you when you do wrong, you have ultimately sinned against God, and the only way to be right with God and have your guilt removed is by a sacrifice being made.

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Women's Bible Study - Overcoming Guilt

Worksheet

1.     What can we combine with prayer to move past the Guilt?

2. What is causing you guilt right now? 
• Try to figure out why you feel guilty. Grab a pen and notebook, and write down a list of things that could be making you feel this way. It might be difficult, but eventually you will figure out what is making you guilty. If you can't figure it out, try this approach: Consider each thing on your list and imagine if you had not done it. If you immediately feel better or wistful, this is probably the thing which is making you guilty.
• Rate your guilt. This might sound stupid, but it can really help. Out of ten, make two ratings: How bad the thing is that you've done, and how guilty you feel. After this, think about why what you did was bad, and why you feel guilty about it. This should hopefully leave your mind a little clearer, and allows you to think rationally about the source of the guilt.
• Consider what you are going to do. If the guilt you feel is over something like being nasty to someone or neglecting a job or pet, feel reassured in the fact that you can do something about this. Write down what you're going to do, consider when and where, and take action. If your guilt is for something like a persons' death or a friend getting angry, acknowledge that it is not your fault, and it's natural to feel this way. Do something to relax and forget about it. It's not worth feeling guilty over insurmountable predicaments: nothing can be done and you will waste your life.
• Once you get a better idea of why you feel guilty, don't run from it. If needed, you may seek help from friends you trust, pray, visit your pastor or elder or even professionals to shed some light on your situation. Chances are unless you have committed a serious crime you may have nothing to feel guilty about. In fact you may find out that someone else has been feeding you lies.
• Learn to Forgive- the person that hurt you or forgive yourself for the pain you have been holding on to. It's the only way to go in order to achieve acceptance, which is a very important aspect of eliminating guilt.